Living Document - Draft Structure
The first section will need to define and explain the process of crop raiding. It is important that those addressing HEC have a clear understanding of the implications of these processes if HEC mitigation is to be implemented in a systematic and holistic manner. Absence or non-use of this information is responsible for the continued application of inappropriate mitigation methods and also for facilitating continued habitat loss and fragmentation that has escalated HEC and has significantly undermined elephant conservation in many areas. Sections two to four deal with HEC mitigation in a holistic manner from addressing the causes to containing HEC to compensation mechanisms. Section five deals with human deaths and property damage as separate issues. Although this issue ties in with crop damage there are more general approaches to dealing with these issues. Sections six deals various issues related to management and people. A complicated and very important aspect and it deals with capacity, apathy, resources, etc. A field only marginally addressed and rarely evaluated or addressed in a systematic manner. Section seven deals with the assessment and monitoring of HEC mitigation efforts. The sections marked in BLUE can be better addressed and in greater detail by other Task Forces dealing these specific issues. There could be eight working groups initially and then as each group finishes its task the members could break up and circulate among the other groups. Suggested Working Groups – we can merge and split and if necessary some of this work (working groups) can be taken up after the workshop Causes for HEC Classification of HEC types Addressing habitat, land use, interface and special cases Addressing elephant population related issues Containing HEC – barriers, deterrents, trenches, etc. Compensation mechanisms Human deaths and property damage Management and people related issues Assessment and monitoring of mitigation efforts Policy There will also be parts that need to discussed/debated before or after the workshop. This structure incorporates the sub-sections of the World Bank document but has a more systematic structure (built on from the AsERSM document) What exactly goes under these headings and sub-headings (and added/deleted headings/sub-headings) is not given in this document – the points made are only for clarification. Also what gets recommended or what is not recommended will be done at the workshop and in the post workshop period when all participate. OUTLINE Document Why do Elephants raid crops and what are the factOrs that need to be considered for hec mitigation? Far from being academic it is the failure to use this information that is resulting in managers not addressing the root causes for HEC. They remain focused purely on addressing the symptoms created by the root causes. Unfortunately the failure to understand and use this information also ensures that the processes that cause HEC persist, forcing us to deal with constantly escalating HEC situations. This also ensures that the conservation potential of various elephant populations and ranges gets constantly eroded. Factors that cause/contribute to Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) The first three factors contribute to initiating, escalating or sustaining HEC. The fourth factor, the behavior of elephants is strongly and directly inter-linked to the first three. The fourth factor deals with some people related issues we need to be aware of when dealing with HEC. We need to understand ‘how’ these factors operate if we are to deal with the problem in a comprehensive manner. Habitat related factors Habitat loss and degradation How these influence HEC and what needs to be done about them to stop further escalation of HEC Habitat fragmentation How this influences HEC and what needs to be done to stop further escalation of HEC due to habitat fragmentation elephant Population related factors How does local over abundance (due to increasing population or reducing habitat) affect HEC and what needs to be done to manage this problem. Local overabundance due to population growth Local overabundance due to compressions brought about by habitat loss/fragmentation Crop protection related factors Absence of or poor application of crop protection measures Where conflict can be managed but is not being managed – capacity related issue Inadequate or inappropriate crop protection measures Where crop raiding has escalated to a point where application of suitable crop protection measures is beyond the capacity/resources of the local people – resource related issue Behavioral aspects of elephants Links directly to habitat/population related issues – an understanding of how these two link up will allow us to take the actions that result in stopping of new HEC or stopping its escalation or help in minimizing efforts needed to mitigate it. So far we have failed to take these factors into account when assessing and planning HEC mitigation. This has resulted in us addressing the symptoms rather than the causes, while at the same time allowing the causative factors to escalate further. It is time to shift to dealing with HEC in a systematic and holistic manner. Social organization of elephants and its implications for HEC Ranging behavior of elephants and its implications for HEC Ecology of elephants and its implications for HEC other People related factors A significant cause for failure of HEC mitigation measures has been our inability to incorporate the implications of the various human related factors that need to be taken into account. Why people live in area prone to HEC? What are the processes/factors that bring and keep people in areas that are prone to HEC. Legal issues HEC mitigation is largely seen as a tool for facilitating elephant conservation with some attention given to alleviate human suffering. However there is scant attention given to the legal implications or legal obligations that the situation imposes on managers. It is possible that we are missing out opportunities that will bring about better conservation and HEC mitigation options because of this lack of information/knowledge of legal implications. Changing perceptions and tolerance The implications of changing socio-economic aspirations of the people; politicization of HEC – the opportunities and constraints. These have a direct/indirect influence on our response to HEC and its mitigation. Types of HEC situations These four aspects – habitat/population, elephant behavior, interface area and intensity of HEC all determine the type of HEC mitigation approaches we need to take. The constraints these situations impose and the mitigation actions needed for each need to be identified. Habitat and population based classification What are the implications of habitat/population size for conflict mitigation and long-term conservation? Adequate and reasonably intact habitat (with low/moderate/high elephant densities) This area would be an intact habitat patch of varying size (Large = 1000+ km2; medium = 500 – 1000 km2 and small = 250 – 500 km2). These numbers would need to be discussed and their implications to HEC and its management understood. Fragmented patches (with low/moderate/high elephant densities) These could be areas where elephants move between patches of habitat. Individual patches may not be greater than 250 km2 (see above for sizes greater than that) but the cumulative the area (as elephants use them) is greater than 250 km2. Need to identify a minimum size for individual patches and the total area of all patches used by elephants Habitat patch (<250 km2 i.e. pocketed populations) (with low/moderate/high elephant densities) Where elephants are confined to a single patch or several patches that are less than 250 km2 and where the habitat may be inadequate to support the existing or a viable elephant population. Elephant behaviour based classification This would help decide what type of mitigation action is needed. One or more or all these situations could be prevailing in an area. Opportunistic crop raiding Where crop protection is absent or very poor and any elephant with access to unprotected crops will raid Habitual raiders When opportunistic raiders get used to ineffective/ poor or to routine crop protection measures become habitual raiders. Obligatory crop raiding These elephants have inadequate or no resources in their home ranges and are dependent on raiding for much of their food needs. These are difficult to contain and even if we contain them then we need to fully understand the conservation implications of confining such populations using barriers? And how best to deal with such animals? Dispersing populations (herds/bulls) There is a need to address this issue in terms of allowing re-colonization of past ranges where possible or in terms of stopping it where it is not practicable. interface area based classification What are the implications of various types of interface/boundary areas? Hard and clear boundaries Diffuse boundaries Intensity based classification An important component to HEC is measuring and understanding the severity in its various dimensions. Impact on the quality of life People’s perceptions Economic impact Physical intensity - Frequencies or area damaged Addressing root causes of HEC (ideally dealt with by the wild elephant and habitat task force – the inputs needed may not be adequately represented in the workshop) This would basically be the first part of HEC mitigation – the objective of would to resolve HEC i.e. stopping new HEC, stopping escalation of existing HEC and reversing/reducing some of the existing HEC. Addressing Habitat Loss Policy Integrated development planning Elephant specific environmental impact assessment (EIA) Tools to identify alternate/less damaging sites for habitat loss that is inevitable Protected areas and Managed elephant ranges This is a concept that AsESG has been talking of for a very long time and variations of this have been taken up in Sri Lanka and India. Basically this recognizes the fact that a significant part of the Asian elephant population and habitat lies outside the PA network and cannot be brought under the PA network for various reasons. The idea is to use and manage (much/most) of those areas outside the PA network in a manner that does not result in their being lost to elephants. Multiple use – elephants and humans. What is missing is the need to define what human activities (exploitation) is compatible with elephant use of these same areas. Reversing loss where possible and where critically important Addressing Habitat degradation Policy and integrated development planning Managed elephant ranges Alternate resources (for fuel wood, cattle grazing and NTFP collections) Addressing Habitat fragmentation Policy and integrated development planning Identifying and securing corridor areas As a start a document like the one prepared by Wildlife Trust of India which identifies and maps major corridors for elephant ranges in India. Restoring connectivity where possible Addressing Agricultural area – elephant habitat interface related issues Changing the interface area Poor interface areas make application of HEC mitigation methods very difficult or make applying them more expensive and more prone to failure. Not enough thought has been given to improving the interface area. Creating hard/clear boundaries Creating an interface conducive to HEC mitigation Changing the interface There are opportunities to change the interface so that HEC is minimized locally. Alternate crops Changing land use (tourism/non-agricultural use/etc.) Removing the interface There is limited scope of relocating settlements or agricultural areas but removal of elephants at specific sites remains an option when all else fails. There is a need to address this in greater detail and the issue needs to be comprehensively addressed under the following sub-headings a) capture and maintenance in captivity b) translocations c) culling. As some of aspects would require greater debate and discussion the option of discussing this before or after the workshop needs to be kept open. Relocation of village/agricultural area Removal of elephants Translocation Criteria for translocation to be addressed by the Wild elephant and habitat Task Force Criteria for capture, transportation and handling to be developed by the Veterinary Task Force Bringing into captivity Criteria for training and maintenance to be developed by the Captive elephant Task Force Criteria for capture, transportation and handling to be developed by the Veterinary Task Force Managed extinction Tools and the management implications this can be dealt with by the Veterinary Task Force Culling Criteria and guidelines for decision making and monitoring will be critical. It is time to deal with this in a mature way. With thousand having already been killed and with hundreds being killed every year illegally it is time this issue is addressed in a serious manner rather than sticking to an age old (and false) notion that this is unacceptable to Asian society. Illegal killing is only ensuring that perception that illegal activities are more and more acceptable and also that no one is really going to do anything about it. This results in more illegal activities and the gradual elimination of elephants – even what can be saved is eventually lost as the government or civil society do not bear the costs or consequence of poor management of habitat or the HEC which results. Special hec issues or cases There are situations that bring in their own set of problems and are large enough situations to warrant being addressed separately. These usually result in creation of land use that often facilitates HEC and works towards undermining elephant conservation in some areas. Addressing shifting cultivation Addressing issues related to agro-forestry and plantations Rubber, pulp wood, tea, coffee, etc. Addressing Population related issues This remains a totally ignored aspect of HEC. While elephant populations at many sites are threatened there are sites or areas where local overabundance is a problem. This needs to be addressed in the document. Local overabundance due to population growth and due to compression Defining and assessing overpopulation Containing population growth Managing compressed populations addressing Populations with no long-term conservation potential (doomed populations) This is another issue that gets sidelined because it is difficult to address or simply because no one wants to raise this contentious issue. However it is an issue that needs to be addressed if HEC mitigation is to be done in a scientific and professional manner. This again is an issue that would need discussions/debate prior to and after the workshop. Defining doomed populations Managing doomed populations Containing HEC This would be the second step in HEC mitigation. After addressing issues in section one HEC will persist along the interface areas (unless physical barriers are used) but at reduced intensity and this will need to be contained or minimized even further. All methods currently being used they need to be reviewed. The document will contain the following details of each method How the method is applied – clearly defining the technique List and define the variations of the basic technique Where and why it is used Is it suitable to any particular type of HEC situation What are the causes for its failure What are the causes for its success Potential improvements Potential for use with other mitigation methods Information needs Guarding and patrolling Guarding from a stationary point Patrolling Driving elephants away from agricultural areas These would be short distance drives and not translocations Barriers Buffer areas Deterrents Devices that are applied independent of guarding Lights/fire Noise making devices Odors (chemical and biological) Fences Live or biological fences Wooden/wire fences Chili/chemical fences Electric fences Trenches Metal/rail barriers or Walls Other special purpose barriers for supporting weak spots when using other methods Sharpened wooden stakes/spiked wooden planks or Cattle guard type barriers Log/rail/wall Compensation This would be the third step in the mitigation process and would be applied in addition to the first two steps. The same review and assessment process as in the previous section would be needed to identify the best uses of these methods if they are found to be usable. Compensation Government/NGO based Community based Insurance Companies Enhancing incomes Increasing the resilience of the people to HEC and to offset the costs of HEC Alternate sources of income Agro-forestry related Cultural/handicraft related Eco-tourism related NTFP related Improving income from existing sources Improved agricultural practices Improved marketing Value addition Human deaths and property damage These largely occur when people intrude into elephant habitat or elephants intrude into human use areas. Minimizing elephant intrusion into human use areas Minimizing human intrusion into elephant habitat Increasing awareness – do’s and don’t when living in an elephant inhabited landscape Securing property from elephant damage (houses, grains, etc.) Management/people related issues Lack of capacity Capacity building At various government levels, within various departments, villages and conservation organizations Awareness Public and government Lack of cooperation This is a major constraint in HEC mitigation and that needs to be addressed in a very serious manner through awareness and capacity building. Within communities Between communities and government Between NGOs and government Lack of resources Who actually needs to address HEC and who needs to pay for it? Legal and social issues. Apathy/resignation A major factor for the failure of many HEC mitigation efforts, mainly because of poor selection and application of HEC mitigation tools. It also ensures that there is no monitoring or corrective actions implemented in cases of failure Corruption Again a major factor for failure of application of a suitable tool or the proper/effective implementation of the tool Absence of implementable solutions What do we do? assessing HEC mitigation needs and mnitoring of hec mitigation Developing standard assessment/monitoring protocols would be an important part of this section Assessing HEC mitigation needs Elephant habitat, population and behaviour ralated issues Interface related issues Type of HEC situation related issues Assessing HEC mitigation methods currently used Assessing HEC intensity and its implication to the afected people Conservation implications of HEC Development of an analytical process that allows identification of all causes and factors that need to be considered when deciding on the best HEC mitigation method(s) suitable to a given site. Evaluating HEC mitigation efforts The focus would be on bringing about adaptive management/implementation of HEC mitigation efforts through monitoring and evaluation management actions Evaluation of the process used to identify mitigation methods Assessment of methods used for stopping-reversing HEC Assessment of methods used for containing HEC Assessment of compensatory mechanisms